Ayurveda recommends scratching your tongue in the morning, the first thing you do. During the night, ama, impurities or slag products are cleared out of the body, and some of them are excreted through the tongue. Therefore, it is good to scrape them off so that they do not go back into the body. In addition, you feel fresher. The tongue scraper should be made of metal, and copper is especially good.

 Mouth-pulling - rinsing the mouth with sesame oil is a very effective way to strengthen oral and palate health - and so easy. Just take a sip of sesame oil and gargle around with it in your mouth for a few minutes in the morning. You usually brush your teeth and rinse your mouth with water, but the deposits and impurities that you often release during the night are often not water-soluble but fat-soluble. Then the sesame oil can dissolve them, and you feel much fresher while your palate and teeth feel better.

Ojas

 In the last post, I mentioned ojas as something that can be created if the tissues are balanced. According to Ayurveda, ojas is the finest material substance available. It is on the border between matter and consciousness and is like the "lamp in the door" between them. Through ojas, the body's inner intelligence receives full flow in all parts, and all body parts are filled with joy, beauty and strength. How do you increase ojas in your life?

• The most crucial thing is strengthening your consciousness through yoga and meditation. Transcendental Meditation, in particular, directly enlivens pure consciousness, which is the primary way to create ojas.

• Eat life-enhancing foods - sattvic. It means easily digestible, organic and lacto-vegetarian. But just as important as what you eat is how you eat. Eat sitting down, in peace and quiet, alone or in pleasant company, focus on the food and do nothing else while eating. According to Ayurveda, it is also essential how one has earned the food and what mood the person who cooked it had - food cooked in love and care is the best.

• Avoid alcohol.

• Avoid stress.

• Go to bed early so that you get enough sleep.

• Many herbs/spices promote sattva and thus ojas, for example, cardamom, cumin, lemon balm, saffron, marjoram, mint, sage and thyme.

• Speak kindly - avoid swearing and harsh words.

• Spread love to your fellow human beings - and yourself ❤️

Sukra

 Sukra is the seventh tissue according to Ayurveda. It is thus the most developed and most subtle. It corresponds to the genital tissues. Strictly speaking, it is about the egg cells in women and the sperm cells in men, but a little more generally, the entire reproductive organs are included. These are fantastic organs that allow us to create new lives. And since it is the most delicate tissue, if it is in balance, one can produce ojas, a substance on the border between consciousness and matter, giving enormous health and joy. But Sukra is also sensitive, so it is essential to keep it in balance. As it is the most delicate tissue, it is affected by imbalances in all the other tissues. To more specifically keep Sukra in balance, it is also good to think about the following:

• Do not overdo sexual activity. You can never get too much tenderness and love, and body contact is great, but when it comes to sexual ejaculation, it is good to be a little more restricted. Sexual activity in moderation is also good for health. But since the genital tissues are the finest and therefore most difficult to produce, it becomes a problem, especially for men, if you empty the sperm cells too often. It wears hard on the body and can lead to fatigue, weakness, fatigue and weakened immune system. For women, the situation is a little different because the egg cells are not emptied in the same way but are released individually during the menstrual cycle, but also for women it can be good with a certain moderation. It is also essential to respect the menstrual cycle by taking it easy and avoiding exertion, negativity and sexual intercourse during the menstrual days.

• Avoid stress.

• Make sure to get in balance through yoga and meditation.

• Get enough sleep, preferably at least eight hours and get to bed before 10 pm.

• Eat nutritious and life-promoting (sattvic) food. Examples of good foods for sukra are fruits, most vegetables (mainly those that grow above ground, and especially asparagus), milk (cooked), ghee, rice, honey (not heated), dates, walnuts, pecans and almonds (peeled).

• Eat mainly warm food and eat in peace and quiet.

• Avoid alcohol, tobacco, carbonated beverages and chemicals.

• Be happy, spread love to your fellow humans and enjoy life.

Majja

 Majja is the sixth tissue according to Ayurveda. It corresponds primarily to the bone marrow but also to the nervous system and the immune system. The bone marrow is a tissue mainly found inside our larger tubular bones. It is essential for our health because it is where our blood cells are produced - both red and white blood cells and platelets. Every day, the bone marrow produces billions of blood cells, and they allow us to transport oxygen to the body's organs (the red blood cells), defend ourselves against diseases (the white blood cells), and they assure that the blood can clot so that bleeding stops (platelets). If you have imbalances in majja, they can manifest themselves in the form of chronic fatigue, weak immune system and low stress resistance. Here are some tips to keep majja healthy and robust:

• Make sure you get enough rest and avoid stress.

• Exercise regularly but not too hard.

• Do oil massage, abhyanga, daily.

• Avoid junk food, alcohol, drugs and environmental toxins.

• Eat organic as much as possible.

• Asparagus, non-homogenised boiled milk, walnuts, pecans, peeled almonds and mango fruits are examples of foods that strengthen majja.

• Be out in the sun often - maybe not so easy this time of year, but it gets better 😀

Christmas

 Now it's soon Christmas again - a wonderful time for socialising and pleasant company. But it can also be a health challenge with unhealthy foods, irregular habits and perhaps stress, conflicts and disappointments. So to have a healthy, Ayurvedic and Merry Christmas, here are some tips:

• Try to avoid Christmas stress and performance anxiety. Your loved ones probably would rather want you to be rested, happy and pleasant than the home being well-cleaned, perfectly decorated, or all the accessories in the Christmas food are included.

• Feel free to eat good Christmas food and make sure you eat it in peace and quiet and really enjoy it. But do not overeat and above all try to avoid eating between meals but instead eat hearty meals at regular times.

• Many parts of the Christmas food can be really healthy. Gingerbread cookies made from natural, organic products with raw sugar instead of white sugar are not bad. Rice porridge made from organic, non-homogenised milk is also good. Nuts are nutritious and healthy, especially walnuts and peeled almonds. Dates, figs and raisins are also good, at least if they are soaked or fresh. And there is much else as well.

• You can also replace traditional products with healthier ones. For example, fried slices of swede with mustard are delicious as an alternative to ham.

• The traditional Christmas spices ginger, cloves, cinnamon, saffron etc., are not only good in gingerbread. They are also perfect in stews, porridge, soups etc. They help to make food more digestible and strengthen the body's functions.

• Drink warm water between meals; it facilitates digestion.

• Also, try to bring in some spirituality. Originally, Christmas is actually a religious holiday, almost forgotten in commercialism, food and Christmas presents.

• Take care of yourself and your loved ones, spread kindness, joy, peace and light.

Wishing you an absolutely wonderful Christmas

Asthi - bones

 Asthi is the fifth tissue according to Ayurveda. It corresponds to bones, cartilage, hair and nails. Having strong legs is vital for the quality of life, not least in old age. And many, especially women, suffer from osteoporosis, which often leads to bone fractures and reduced mobility. In Ayurvedic terms, above all, excess in vata breaks down the bones. But the bone tissue is a living tissue that is constantly being replaced and built up. Therefore, ama, impurities, are also a threat to bone health, inhibiting the regeneration process. We also need nutrition, especially calcium and vitamin D are essential. Finally, exercise is absolutely crucial for bone health. The tissues that are not used are broken down, so inactivity is the single biggest threat to healthy bones. To get healthy and strong bones, nails and hair, you can think of the following:

• Exercise regularly. Particularly 'bumpy' exercise such as running or aerobics with jumping is good for strengthening the skeleton.

• Make sure you get enough vitamin D. The best source is the sun, but in Sweden, the sun is not high enough to produce vitamin D during the winter. Therefore, it may be helpful to supplement with supplements.

Calcium is also important, so include calcium-rich foods in your diets such as sesame seeds, tahini, broccoli, peeled almonds, fresh asparagus and dairy products.

• Especially for women, it can also be good to include soy products as they contain phytoestrogens which can counteract age-related weakening of the bone tissue.

• Live a regular life, do not skip meals and go to bed early.

• Doing oil massage, abhyanga, is beneficial.

• Do yoga and meditate.

• Try to avoid stress.

Good luck!